Never Give In
by Ejsmommy
Summary: What if Muirfield had tortured Catherine in 1x04? Would she give in? How much would it take? And if she doesn't give in, what will they do to her? How will Vincent react? How would that change the story? Will he still turn himself in? If he does, how can Catherine stop him if she's hurt?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**  
**This is my first fanfiction. I've never been able to write before. Something happens on the journey from brain to paper and it never comes out right. So I hope you like it. I would like at least one review for this chapter. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I'll love you forever. Feel free to criticize my grammar and spelling.**  
**DISCLAIMER: **  
**Beauty and the Beast is not mine, although I wish Jay Ryan was so I could do naughty things to him. YUM!**

* * *

Muirfield came after her, just as Vincent feared. Fists are flying, she's ducking under kicks and landing hits whenever she can. Her gun is laying on the pavement out of reach. Knocked out of her hand by the asshole behind her when she was first cornered. She shoves one man back and turns kicking the other in the face causing him to slam against Silverfox's car. Diving for the gun, Cat is grabbed from behind and thrown back onto the ground. Hitting her head on the pavement, she's left out of breath and disoriented.

The big ogre of a man picks her up and throws her into the car. The other, the one who knocked her gun out of her hand, the one she nicknamed "Dick" tended to his cheek. The force behind her kick would have at the very least cracked his jaw. Knowing this, caused a Grinch worthy smirk to cross her face. At least it did before the "Dick" slinked over and socked her in the temple, causing Catherine to lose consciousness.

Blurry surroundings greeted her when she was finally able to lift her heavy eyelids again. With a massive headache blooming, she began to take stock of her situation. Creepy warehouse with flickering lights? Check. Zip tied to chair? Check. Creepy Muirfield goon? Huh, where'd he go? Footstep echoed and she peered through hair to find... Yes, you guessed it. Creepy Muirfield guy.  
"Kind of pushing the Patriot Act to the limit, aren't you?" She says, speaking harshly, letting the disgust she feels for the man stepping towards her seep into her voice.

"I apologize for the physicality but I knew you wouldn't come easily" he said calmly.

"Gee, how'd you guess?" she sneered.

"Where is he?" he said.

"I don't know. He only comes around once a year... He shouldn't be that hard to find. I mean there are only so many men that wear a red suit, have a white beard, are fat and jolly, and ride in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer... You were talking about Santa, right?" She said, spitting on his shoe.

Which of course, earned her a punch to the face. She didn't even give him the satisfaction of wincing. Instead choosing to say.

"Kidnapping, false imprisonment of an officer... assault. You just keep adding to the charges I can bring up against you, aren't you Asshole?"

Anger flaring in his eyes, he signaled to two men stationed behind her. While one held her arms so she could not fight back, the other cut the zip tie that had been holding her to the chair. Dragging her to the wall that had been located behind her, the two men, who turned out to be the "Dick" and the "Ogre", attached Catherine's wrists to chains that were nailed to the walls as she struggled.

"Now, I knew you were going to be difficult", creepy head guy sneered, "But not this difficult. Which means things are going to have to go back to being physical."

Cat tensed as the "Dick" stepped forward. Bracing herself, she experienced a rush of satisfaction when a puff of air was expelled instead of the moan of pain she wanted to let loose as she was punched in the abdomen. Numerous blows to the stomach caused cries of agony to ring out through the warehouse that could no longer be bit back. Blood dribbled out of the side of her mouth to splash on the collar of her shirt but she still would not give Vincent up.

"WHERE IS HE?" he roared.

"Probably on Easter Island, Asshole. But if you're that hard up for candy, you can always go to the store." she retorted.

"Looks like this isn't working, guess we'll have to try something else." he said, nodding to the men.

Eyeing the "Dick", she was too distracted to notice the "Ogre" sneaking up on her until she felt two pieces of metal being pressed against her arm, and by then her body had already begun to jerk and convulse.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**I got reviews! Yay, I'm so excited I'm doing the tip toe from Ice Age 3!**

**Thank you for reviewing:  
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**milkchocolatehot64  
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**Andromeda03  
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**scifigrl10  
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**What happened last chapter:**

**Eyeing the "Dick", she was too distracted to notice the "Ogre" sneaking up on her until she felt two pieces of metal being pressed against her arm, and by then her body had already begun to jerk and convulse.**

Head thrown back, spasms and uncontrollable waves of pain scream through her body as blood and spit fly from her mouth. Beads of sweat break out on her forehead and run down her temples. The two pieces of metal are pulled away only to be re-attached to her body more times than she could ever count. Ribs, arms, back. All were used as a birth point for the electricity that coursed through her body. Howls of misery erupt from Catherine's mouth. A cloudy film covers her eyes as tears roll down her cheeks and a roaring fills her ears, blurring faces and distorting voices.

"That's enough. This obviously isn't working and we don't want to fry her brain. I need her to be able to talk. Let her rest and come back to herself and then we'll try something else."

Cat's head fell forward as her eyelids drooped and her world got darker and smaller until it all faded to black.  
"Get her over to the table." Silverfox grunts before walking away. "We'll give her an hour."

The two men drag her over and throw her down on the slightly inclined table with her feet at the highest point before strapping her in. One strap across her chest, one across her hips and another across her knees. A folded up cloth is placed near her head and 3 gallons of water are set on the floor near her right side.

* * *

A strong burning sensation filled her nose causing her to gag and cough. Silverfox had a grin on his face as he pulled back the tablet he had broken under her nose. Trying to get up, Cat realized she was strapped down, stuck, forced to wait out whatever sick plan Silverfox was going to torture her with next.

"Do you know what this is?" He said, motioning to the table she was strapped too. "This is where I finally get the information I need out of you. Do you know what waterboarding is, Ms. Chandler? Do you know how it works? You see that cloth next to you? That cloth will go over your face and water will be poured slowly over it. Giving you a drowning sensation and an intense fear of death that will break down your resistance. Even soldiers of the highest training have broken when tortured using this method. Some didn't even last 20 seconds." Bending over he whispered, "I suspect you won't last even half of that."

0~0~0~0~0~0

She couldn't breathe, her gag reflex had kicked in. Water was being poured over her head running into her nose and mouth. Spasms course through her body. Fear threatens to bring her to her knees. So Catherine did the only thing she could think of. She got angry and as soon as the cloth was removed from her face by "Ogre" she shoot a glare at Silverfox. One gallon down.

"30 seconds... I'm impressed." He said looking down at his watch. "So you feel like talking yet?"

"SCREW YOU" She shouted.

"Careful Ms. Chandler." He warned. "You don't want to make me angry."

"Or what? You going to have your goons give me a bath again? You don't even have the balls to do it yourself. Don't want to get your hands dirty? Afraid of a little water? So you have to have Dick and Jane over there do it for you. You're pathetic. Just a big old chicken gift wrapped in a suit. So tell me, what are you going to do. You've already had me beaten, electrocuted and now waterboarded... What next? A lashing?" She says bitterly.

"Precisely." He gritted out between clenched teeth while rolling up his sleeves. "Cuff her to the wall, back facing me." He said before turning and grabbing a long bull whip from a chair Cat had not noticed until then.  
Dick and Jane, also known as "Ogre", unstrapped her before slamming her face against the wall, stripping off her jacket and cuffing her hands to the chains that were nailed to opposite sides of the wall.

Whip in hand, Silverfox stepped closer. "Last chance, Chandler. Are you going to talk?"

She barely got the words "Never" out before a white hot band of pain sliced down her back. Cutting through the thin fabric of her shirt and leaving a raised welt that throbbed with the beat of her speeding heart.

The crack of a whip and the screams of a woman swept through the warehouse, washing over the animals hidden there. Animals that were pulled towards the sound of the woman who not only had outer beauty but also beauty from within. Someone willing to endure this type of pain for someone she loved. They crept closer, feeling her pain, compelled to help alleviate it in anyway. At least until they heard the voice of evil in the man named Silverfox which caused them to shrink back, then turn tail and run back into the shadows.

"Have you had enough? Ready to give up Vincent? I don't think you can take much more of this. You're already bleeding."

She had endured 15 lashes. Three strategically placed to land on previous welts causing them to split and spill blood down her back.

"Never." She whispered. Forcing all of her determination into that one word.

Sighing, Silverfox stepped closer. "You're protecting a monster, Catherine. That's what he is, a monster not a man."

" That is what you programmed him to be. It's been ten years. He's not like that anymore. He saves people." She said, turning her face to the side so she could see better.

"I know it's romantic to think he's some kind of mythological protective beast, but how do you explain Simon Holmes?" He said, pulling out a tablet to show her crime scene photos and an article about his death.

"Married. Pregnant wife. He was found behind the local bar. Was he not innocent because he chose to have a cocktail?"

"No." She said, shaking her head. "You lie."

"No, I don't. He did this and you know it. You've seen it before" Silverfox said smugly. Sure that he was getting through to her.

"Then... There was a reason why he did this. Probably to protect someone." She said confidently.

"Do you really think we would pour this many resources into finding him if he wasn't absolutely lethal?"

No, you just want to clean up your mess." She said rolling her eyes.

"No, we want to fix it. Perhaps find him an antidote."

"Yeah." She scoffs. "That's why you've just spent the last few hours torturing me. To help him."

"Clearly the wrong tactic. All right, I'll make you a deal. Your mother. For ten years, you've been searching for the truth about what happened to her the night she was killed. You bring me Vincent... I'll tell you everything. This is your mother at our headquarters." Showing her a picture on the tablet. "You have three days. This card has my number. I'm not going to follow you but if I don't hear from you on the third day, I'm going to have to go back to the wrong tactics." Turning to his men, he instructed them to free her before turning and walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

**A little shorter but I wanted to get this out there.**

**Man, I am on a roll tonight!**

* * *

Cat drove straight home. She knew she should go to the hospital but she wanted to go home and see what condition her body was in and to come up with a cover story first. Unlocking the front door, she slipped in before relocking it. She walked over to the kitchen counter before pulling the card out of her pocket causing a wave of agony to rip through her body as she stared at it. She would never call but she wanted to keep the card as a reminder of what she was willing to do to protect Vincent. Placing the card on the table, she pulls out her phone and places it on the table next to the card just as she hears a thud coming from her room. Given the torture she just endured and that it was two in the morning, she pulled her gun and stalked toward her room. Grimacing at every painful step and almost hyperventilating out of fear, she swings around the door to point her gun at... Vincent? Sitting on her fire escape. Shit! She really didn't want to explain this to him.

"Vincent, what are you doing here?" She asks, dreading the conversation to come.

"You asked if there was any evidence."

"Get inside." She was suddenly scared that Silverfox could have lied about not following her.

"Why? What's going on?" His brow furrowed, suddenly confused.

"Get inside." She says sharply. Vincent jumps through and lands next to her. "Okay, get away from the window." She pulls the shades down and then turns to walk out. "Muirfield grabbed me."

"What?"

They pulled me into a car, took me to some warehouse... I'm okay, Vincent." She lied, turning back toward him. She didn't want him to know what she went through for him.

"Then why do I smell blood, Cat?" He asked bringing his hands up to cradle her face.

"It's nothing." She lied again.

"You're lying!" Vincent was starting to get angry. She was lying to him. It was like she didn't trust him. The thought making him angrier. So angry that when he saw the blood on her shirt, he just grabbed it and ripped it open instead of asking about it.

"Vincent!" Catherine gasped. Shocked that he would do such a thing. Closing her shirt quickly and wrapping her arms around her abdomen, she hoped that Vincent didn't get more than a glimpse. But it seems a glimpse is all he needed.

Eyes turned yellow, he snarled. "What did they do to you?"

She wouldn't look at him and wouldn't tell him and he wanted to know why.

"Why won't you tell me?"

Anger rising, Catherine lashed out. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY!" She roared. Actually happy her sister hadn't come home that night. "DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU HOW THEY CHAINED ME UP AND BEAT ME? OR HOW ABOUT WHEN THEY ELECTROCUTED ME? DO YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT WHEN THEY WATERBOARDED ME?" She sobbed. "I was so scared... a-and I couldn't breathe. Do you want to hear how the only reason I didn't break was because I kept chanting in my head, 'Don't give Vincent up. Don't give in. Protect Vincent.' I needed to protect you. Just like you protect me. Don't you see this is my fault." She wept bitterly. "If I had just listened to you and stayed away or stopped investigating but I didn't. And now they know about you. And it's all my fault."

Vincent couldn't stand hearing her words, couldn't stand seeing her tears. He wished he never asked. So he did the only thing he could and that was to wrap her up in his arms. But as soon as he touched her back, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and fainted dead in his arms.

To be honest, he panicked a little when he lifted his hands and saw them covered in blood. Carrying her over to a mirror, he positioned her against him so he could see her back. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw after he slipped off her jacket. Her shirt hanging in strips, red welts crisscrossing across her back but the worst was the three cuts that ran deep enough to see muscle. Hands shaking violently, he could feel the change creeping up on him.

Taking in deep breaths and looking away from the mirror, because it would not help to keep looking at it, he told himself that he needed to calm down. That Catherine needed him. When he was calm enough, he picked her up and ran off towards home.


	4. Chapter 4

Blood dripped down the arm Vincent had wrapped around her back. He was thankful she had fainted. He hadn't wanted to hurt her but carrying her home was hard. He had to put his arm across the welts on her back and he was sure if she had been awake, she would be screaming. Kicking the door of the chemical plant open he rushed up the stairs and laid her on the bed. Wanting to look at her stomach first, he was afraid she could have internal bleeding, he pulled the two pieces of her shirt apart.

Immediately the veins in his neck darkened and started to pulse. Her entire stomach was a tie dyed pattern of black, red and blue. Marks from the low volt taser they used on her were interwoven through the bruises on her stomach and spattered across her arms. He counted at least 15 of them. And he was sure there would be some on her back too. Probing her stomach, he winced when he heard her moan. Finding no signs of internal bleeding, he got up to grab two syringes, morphine, anesthetic, gloves, a sterilized surgical needle and thread from the cabinet were he had gotten the gloves earlier when he went looking for evidence.

He filled the first syringe with enough morphine to knock Cat out and keep her pain free for a few hours. After injecting it, he waited 15 minutes before pulling off her shirt and turning her on her stomach. He filled the second syringe with just enough lidocaine to numb the area he needed to work on. After injecting the lidocaine in several areas across her back, he threaded the needle and got to work.

Sitting up and cracking his back, he inspected his work. Almost a hundred stitches in all. The worst being the foot long slice going down her back which required nearly half of them. He cleaned up his mess and then covered her back with gauze and tape.

"I'm so sorry, Cat. This is all my fault. And I'll hate myself for the rest of my life for causing this." He whispered.

Looking at the clock, he realized that JT would be home in two hours. He knew that as soon as JT saw Catherine, he was going to flip but there was nothing he could do about that but wait. So he paced and he beat the crap out of his punching bag and then paced again. By the time JT arrived Vincent was sitting at the table.

"Oh good, you're home. Got that book you wanted. Used my Bio-chem Professor of The Semester... What the hell is she doing here?" JT said when he saw her.

"Damn it, Vincent! I never thought you were stupid but now..."  
"Muirfield got to her, JT!" Vincent says hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, what?" JT looked back over to the form laying over on Vincent's bed. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Is she okay?"

Eyes slowly turning yellow, "No, she's not. They tortured her, JT!" He grabbed her shirt and handed it to him.

JT turned white as he opened it. Not wanting to see the bloodied strips of shirt any longer, he waded it up and threw it on the table. Not knowing what to say, he sat down and just stared back into Vincent's yellow eyes.

Vincent trying to keep from roaring dropped his head into his hands and whispered, his voice grief-stricken. "They beat her and electrocuted her, JT. God, they even waterboarded her! You've already seen what they did to her back. It took almost 100 stitches just to close her wounds. And she still wouldn't tell them anything!."

Veins started crawling up his neck and face. Vincent's breathing got heavier and growls started to escape his throat. "I need to get out of here and blow off some steam. Can you stay here and watch her?"

JT nodded even though Vincent was already gone. Walking over he sat near Catherine careful not to disturb her, grabbing her hand just as he heard a pain filled roar and smashing coming from out back.

They had filled the back with abandoned cars and random junk that way whenever Vincent lost control at home he could go out and destroy things, which is where he went now. Picking up a thick wood coffee table, he threw it at an old grey station wagon 50 yards away. Turning around, he grabbed the base of an old broken down suburban with broken windows and missing seats and flipped it over. Metal garbage cans flew through the air like birds taking flight. Old shopping carts were ripped apart as if they were pieces of paper and tears rained down his cheeks. An hour of this went by before he was kneeling on the ground back to normal.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry ." Gut-wrenching sobs came out of his mouth as he rocked back and forth. "I was supposed to protect you. This should have never happened. What kind of man lets this happen to the woman he loves. I was right. I'm a monster. I should have died that day 10 years ago. You would have been safe. Never again. This will never happen again. I'll make sure of it. You can go back to your life Cat, move on be happy. Get married, have kids. Live a normal life. It's not like you're in love with me. You'll be able to move on." Standing up, he started walking back inside. "You'll be safe and they'll have no reason to go after you again. I'll make sure of it, no matter what."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

**Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up. Having no point of reference from the show caused me to have a few problems. Catherine and Joe kept coming out to OOC. I hope you like this chapter. Personally I don't think my writing was up to it's usual standards. Oh and I watched tonight's episode! I want to kick Evan for making a move. I also want to slap Vincent and Cat upside the head. Vincent for being stupid and Cat for not pushing Evan away.**

**What happened last chapter:**

**You can go back to your life Cat, move on and be happy. Get married, have kids. Live a normal life. It's not like you're in love with me. You'll be able to move on." Standing up, he started walking back inside. "You'll be safe and they'll have no reason to go after you again. I'll make sure of it, no matter what."**

Vincent never leaves her side. The one time he left her with JT, to check on her sister and see what was going on at the police station, he came back to her screaming and thrashing around from a nightmare, and had nearly ripped out her stitches. Running inside, he found JT sitting there holding her hand trying to calm her. Turns out Vincent is the only one that can. After that he never left her again. He was always there soothing her. When she would whimper, he would hold her hand. If she cried out from nightmares, he would whisper telling her of the dreams he had, dreams of her, dreams where he wasn't a monster, dreams where they had a life together. And occasionally when JT wasn't watching, he would lean down and breathe in her scent.  
A day passed with Catherine moving in and out of consciousness. Phone calls were left unanswered. Voicemails unchecked. Questions left unasked. Vincent paced. JT brooded. And they both worried. But when the sun rose on the second day, Catherine did with it.

"Do you remember what happened?" Vincent had asked as soon as she had eaten.

She nods. "I'll tell you but first can I have my phone? I need to check my messages."

Receiving messages ranging from concerned (Tess and Evan) to pissed (Joe) she makes a split second decision and decides that it's time to talk.

"I need to tell my boss what's going on." She tells Vincent. Seeing JT had opened his mouth caused her to rush on. "I won't tell him specifics. Just that I was investigating my mom's death and got caught up in something bad concerning the government,the same thing that got my mom killed and now they've come after me. Nothing else. I won't tell him about Vincent or what the government did to him but I think it would be best if I told him at least part of the truth. I'm not going to be able to go back to work and he's going to want to know why. I will have to show him the injures I've sustained which will only cause him to ask more questions. Telling him only what he needs to know will stop those. But I won't tell him if you disagree, Vincent. I'll figure something else out."

JT, who did not agree with what Cat was about to do, dropped her off at her apartment on his way to the University. She had already called Joe and after a lot of cussing on his part, got him to agree to meet in a discreet location to talk. Not wanting to show her injures, she brought the torn and bloodied shirt with her. She just hoped it would be enough. Sliding into her car, she drove toward the warehouse they choose to meet at. Cat just hoped being around another warehouse wouldn't send her into a panic attack.  
Vincent had already gone to the warehouse to make sure no one was laying in wait and to make sure no one snuck up on her and Joe when they were meeting. It was the only way he would let her come.

Driving up she looked around at the warehouse and realized there would be no flashbacks or panic attacks. The outside of the first warehouse was plaster and cement whereas this warehouse was made from brick and mortar. Letting out a sigh of relief, she stepped out of the car, grabbed her shirt and walked up to where Joe was already waiting, arms folded leaning against his car.

"Where the hell have you been, Chandler?" Joe asks.

"I've gotten involved in something really bad, Joe."

"What do you mean?"

"10 years ago, my mom was involved in an experiment the government was running. I can't tell you what it was, it's too dangerous. I don't even know how she was involved but when the experiment went bad they decided to bury it. I think she kept investigating, I don't know. But they killed her for it. And because I've been digging in to her death they have been coming after me." She throws him her shirt. "Two days ago, they got to me and tortured me."

Joe unravels the shirt and just stares at it. "I knew you sucked at baseball, Cat but I didn't think you would actually come up with a lie like this just to get out of playing." He shakes his head handing the shirt back to her.

"Damn it, Joe!" She lifts the front of her shirt to show the bruises and taser marks on her stomach as angry tears fill her eyes. "Is this real enough?" She turns around. "Lift the back of my shirt, Joe. Peel back the gauze."

Joe steps away knowing from looking at the shirt she had handed to him what was laying underneath. "No."

"You doubted me, so you better get your ass over here and look." Cat says pissed off. "If I had enough balls to go through what they did to me, and you had enough balls to tell me you doubted me to my face, then you have enough balls to get over here and look at it."

Stepping closer, he lifts the back of her shirt and slowly peels the gauze down. Large, red, angry welts that begin to seep droplets of blood stared back at him. Peeling the gauze away more, the three stitched up cuts that crisscrossed over each other assaulted his eyes. Unable to look anymore and cussing a blue streak, he replaced the gauze and pulled her shirt down. Feeling ashamed he turned her around before grabbing her by the neck and pulling her toward him keeping his arms up so he couldn't hurt her.

"No, just go away, Joe." She says pushing at his shoulders. "I can't believe you would think I would lie about something like this, especially after what happened to my mom. Just to get out of baseball. Do you even know me?"

"I'm sorry, Cat. I'm sorry." He said, holding on to her. "Take a couple of weeks off. I'll post men on your family. If they did this to you, they might go after your family as well. And if they do, i'll take care of them. You can trust me." He swears.  
"Thanks Joe."

Driving to the chemical plant with Vincent meant questions were going to be asked. Questions she didn't want to answer. Catherine knew he would blame himself for what happened and giving details would just make it worse. But even knowing this, she still did. When he asked how she was taken, she explained the fight. When he said he wanted the details of her torture, she told him, even though she knew it would hurt him. And when he asked why they let her go, she told him about her mom, the deal and the card. Something she would later regret.

By the time they got back to his home, she was both mentally and physically exhausted. Ordering her to bed, Vincent gave her some morphing for the pain she was in and then sat back and waited. As soon as Cat lost consciousness, he began preparations. He drew his blood, wrote a note, packed up his things, smashed his phone and grabbed a new one. Taking his jacket, Vincent moved back over to Catherine. He leaned over, breathed in her scent and committed it to memory. But as he started to move away, he realized he wanted a kiss. Just one kiss. To say goodbye. So he moved back in and pressed his lips to hers.

"Goodbye, Catherine." Running to her apartment, he climbed the fire escape, slide through her room, grabbed the card and was gone in seconds.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

**I am so sorry about the wait. I have so many reasons why but I won't list them. I'll just say that I will do better.  
**

**What happened last chapter:**

**He leaned over, breathed in her scent and committed it to memory. But as he started to move away, he realized he wanted a kiss. Just one kiss. To say goodbye. So he moved back in and pressed his lips to hers.**

"Goodbye, Catherine." Running to her apartment, he climbed the fire escape, slide through her room, grabbed the card and was gone in **seconds.**

Opening blurry eyes, Catherine did not expect to find JT pacing and ranting in front of Vincent's bed.

"I knew it. I knew it!" JT yelled. "No one could withstand the kind of torture you did without spilling the beans."

JT had come home to find Vincent's stuff gone and the man with it. Seeing that Cat was still here, he knew Vincent would have never left willingly. Which led him to the conclusion that it must have been Muirfield and the only way that Muirfield would know where Vincent was hiding would be if Catherine told them.

"What I don't get is why you didn't just tell us that you spilled! You could have warned him! If they touch him, I swear I'll..." JT finally looked over at Catherine to see that she had gone pale and tears were sliding down her cheeks.

"What are you talking about JT?" She asked, sliding off the bed as she tried to keep her voice from shaking. "He was here when I fell asleep! I didn't betray him. I would rather die. I would never give him up. EVER! We need to find out what happened!"

JT took one side of the room as Catherine searched the other. Five minutes into the search JT called her over and handed her a note.

"I can't stand back and watch you in pain because of me? Move on, be happy? WHAT THE HELL IS HE THINKING?" Pacing back and forth, she tries to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was never his fault. I didn't listen. If anything this is all my fault" Sitting down, she puts her face in her hands. "I can't lose him JT. I'll never forgive myself."

Glancing down, she continued to read until one sentence stops her. "I've left proof of my existence?"

"Insurance. In case something happens to us, I'm supposed to send it out to the world" JT speaks as he tries calling Vincent.

"I had their phone number."

"And you lost it?"

"I left it in my apartment. Vincent knew. I bet anything he went and grabbed it."

"Great, now what do we do?" JT says throwing down the phone.

"I didn't see the plates on the SUV and there was no address at the warehouse... My Car!"Bending down she digs around until she finds her powder brush.

Pulling it out, JT gets an annoyed look on his face. "Makeup now? Really?"

"I need chalk. There was another agent that drove my car. He must have left prints. All we need to do is lift them, send them through the system, track his phone and then we'll be there."

"Vincent will be dead by then." JT sighed.

"Do you have a better idea?"

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Okay, I just sent them in." Turning around in the chair, she looks at JT. "I need you to take out my stitches."

What! No, you've barely started to heal. I'm not going to do it. You'll just tear the cuts open again." He says, backing away.

"That's why I need you to take the stitches out, JT. We might have to fight our way out and I could end up ripping out my stitches. Please JT, we don't have a lot of time." She pleads.

"I don't know what to do." JT says, looking a little green.

"You're going to need some small scissors, a lot of gauze pads in different sizes and a couple of gauze rolls, medical tape, tweezers, antiseptic and some gloves." Peeling off her shirt, she turned around and sat with her chest pressed against the back of the chair so that her back was facing the light.

"Well, we're lucky that Vincent was a doctor. I was able to find everything in single packages already sterilized, even the sciss-UH..." Looking up JT blushed red before glancing back down. "S-s-sorry. I didn't realize..."

"It's okay, JT. It's just my back. Calm down." She said looking back at him over her shoulder. "You need to peel the gauze off and get to work because as soon as I hear from my friend, we're leaving."

"Okay... okay, I can do this. I can do this!" JT sets the stuff in his arms down on the table near Catherine before pulling a chair over and placing it directly behind her. Sitting down, he scooted closer and then peeling the tape away from her skin with shaking hands.

"Now what?"

"Are your hands shaking JT?"

"A little." He said, looking down at his hands.

"You need to get them to stop. Close your eyes and breathe in deep. Calm yourself. Listen to my voice. You need to be able to this." She says, looking over her shoulder again. "Vincent needs us and we need him. We must bring him home."

"I-I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. I have faith in you. I trust you. Now are you ready?" Craning her neck around she saw him nod. "Good, now we need to do this fast. Put on the gloves than grab the antiseptic and rub some on my back." Biting her lip to keep from crying out, she continued, "Now grab the tweezers, we are going to do this fast, so I need you to slide the knot on each stitch to the far right so it isn't in the middle."

Hunching over, JT took a deep breath before moving the lowest knot on her back over to the right. Climbing up the misshaped ladder on her back, it only took him five minutes until he was done.

Catherine, with her head down on the back of the chair told him to grab the scissors. Which he did.  
"You need to cut through the middle of each stitch and then grab the knot with the tweezers to pull it out."

Slowly each rung of the ladder disappeared until finally JT sat back and sighed, watching as blood slowly leaked from the top of her cuts .

"Grab the largest gauze pad you have and put tape around the bottom left corner before placing it on my back about an inch under the cuts. Make sure that there is an inch to the sides and top of the cuts too. Remember only attach the bottom left corner to my back. Also make sure you have some medical tape already cut and in reach for after."

Nodding JT did as instructed moving quicker then he thought he ever could.

"Stack four gauze pads together before placing them on my cuts. Start at the bottom and work you way to the top. You need to do one stack at a time. Place one and then tape the corners of the large one over it. Over and over."

And that was exactly what he did. Shutting down his brain, moving in a trance he worked fast without the worry or nerves from before. Surprise coursed through him when he reached the top in less than two minutes.  
Pulling back and standing up he turned around as Catherine moved to get out of the chair.

"Grab the gauze rolls. I'll wrap the front if you get my back. Wrap it tightly."

Standing behind Catherine, he waited for her to pass the roll to him so he could wrap it once around her back before giving it back to her. Again and again until she had over an inch of padding to protect her wounds.

"I'm gonna go throw up now." JT says pulling off the gloves before going to wash his hands.

Phone ringing, Catherine pulls on her shirt before running to it. Sitting down in front of the laptop she typed in the address just as JT came running toward her yelling about having a heart attack.

"Okay, we got him. Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**

**There were three songs that I listened to while I was typing the romantic/angsty stuff. Especially the dream. They were from the tv show (I discovered this helped me write better)**

**They were:**

**Never let me go by Florence and The Machine**

**Nitesky by Robot Koch**

**and**

**St. Christopher (on my way) by Michael Logen**

**They set the mood perfectly throughout this chapter. Well... except for the fight scene. Had to turn my music off then cuz it wasn't helping. Oh and these are on youtube if you want to listen to them while reading. I recommend it. As I said, it sets the mood perfectly.  
**

**What happened last chapter:**

**"I'm gonna go throw up now." JT says pulling off the gloves before going to wash his hands.  
Phone ringing, Catherine pulls on her shirt before running to it. Sitting down in front of the laptop she typed in the address just as JT came running toward her yelling about having a heart attack.  
"Okay, we got him. Let's go."**

"I'm not going in on a leash." Vincent says, staring at a man carrying manacles with a bruise on his cheek. Probably from Catherine, he thinks smugly.

"It's just a precaution, Vincent." Silverfox puts his hand up stopping the bruised man.

Vincent glaring at him steps closer to the chains before putting his arms forward giving up his wrists to be chained like an animal.

"We're working on something that may be able to help you, make you better." Car wheels crunching over gravel causes Silverfox to shift his attention away from Vincent. "Well, look who it is. She just can't stay away."

Vincent turned his head to look before looking back at Silverfox. "My terms."

"Guns down. Guns down." Silverfox says, giving Vincent a look.

"Vincent, don't do this!"

"You need to go now." His voice coming out in a growl as he turns toward her.

"As pleasant a surprise as this is, he's already made the decision for you, Detective." Silverfox says as he steps closer to Vincent.

"It's not a decision, Vincent. Tommy Holt would be dead if not for you. I would be dead. Please, don't leave me. Don't do this to me. I need you. I-I lo... Take your hands off him!" She screams, pulling her gun and firing.

Bullets start flying and Vincent has to dive to the side to avoid getting shot. A bullet ricochets off his cuffs and hits the man in front of him, killing him. Landing on the ground his adrenaline begins to spike and his veins blacken. Standing up he turns to growl at a man shooting at him just as JT runs up and hits the man's gun out of his hand before knocking him down with his baseball bat. He hits the man again and again while Catherine runs to Silverfox's SUV kicking a guy just as he pulls out a gun. Ducking an elbow aimed for her face, she tries hitting him in the face with her gun only to have it knocked out of her hand and her wrist grabbed. She takes two punches to the stomach before staggering back and getting a kick to the face. The man grabs her arms and rams her back into a stack of crates.

An explosion shakes the ground, Vincent protecting JT, as pain lances through her body. Her cuts split open down her back and blood starts to fill up her bandages. To get him off her, Cat sends her foot flying up in between his legs before hitting him in the throat. Then Cat hits him with an elbow to the face before landing another punch to his throat. A roundhouse kick to the temple kills him.

Silverfox runs for the open door of his SUV just as Vincent jumps down and pushes him up against a ledge. Jumping back up he wraps his chains around Silverfox's throat and pulls up until the man's feet lift off the ground. As soon as Silverfox dies, Vincent drops the body before jumping to the ground. Growling, he paces until Catherine walks up to him.

Tears in her eyes, she walks right up to him and places her hands on his face.

"You need to get away from me!" He roars, pulling his face from her hands before turning away.

"No! I'm not leaving you. You don't have to hide from me." Tears now pouring down her face.

"I'm a monster! Look at me. I just killed someone." He says, pointing at Silverfox. Words barely distinguishable through his growls.

Cat grabs his face again. "Yes, you did but that doesn't mean you're a monster. You're just a part of Vincent... My Vincent. But I need all of him here with me. You just need to let him out. I need to see him. He's the best thing in my life, the only thing that matters. Just let him out." She says, stroking his face as it slowly turns back to normal.

"You guys should go back to the warehouse." JT says as he walks up. "I'll clean up this mess."

"No." Vincent walks toward JT. "I'm not going to leave you with this."

"Look, Catherine is going to need you. She made me take out her stitches. She didn't want to rip them if we had to fight our way to you." JT glances over to Cat and sees how haggard she looks. "I'll deal with this. Take care of her."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Fear races through her veins causing her hands to shake. Pain stabs through her heart and cold seeps into her bones. Jumping out of her car, the slam of the door echoes through the dark and gravel crunches under her feet as she runs towards the circle of light just in front of her. Breath coming in gasps, she runs and she keeps running her destination just out of reach, until finally she's at the edge of the light.

Hope sears through her just as she slams into an invisible barrier and she's stuck watching as Vincent kneels in the middle, hands cuffed behind his back with a gun pressed to his temple. Unable to get through, she resorts to screaming his name and pounding on the ghostly cage that keeps him in and her out. And just as his eyes move up to look into hers... the trigger is pulled and she falls through the barrier.

Blood dripping from his head, she runs sobbing to the body of the man she loved. But just as she reaches him, his body fades away and she's left with bloodied gravel and a destroyed heart. Dropping to her knees, tears pour down her cheeks and the heavens open up to cry with her.

"NOOOOO!" Lightning flashes, screaming with her.

"I WAS TOO LATE! PLEASE COME BACK! VINCENT! VINCENT! PLEASE!" Thunder rolls with denial. And a broken Catherine grabs her head and screams her pain.

Shakes take over her body and she hears her name being called as if she were under water.

"Catherine? Catherine! CATHERINE!"

Jerking up, she finds herself in her car outside Vincent's warehouse. Her door open and Vincent next to her.

"What happened?" She asks placing a hand to her head, her thoughts muddled.

"You fell asleep as I was driving back here. And just as I was pulling up, you started screaming and thrashing around. I've been trying to wake you for the last five minutes. What the hell were you dreaming?" He asks, brow furrowed with concern in his eyes.

Just then she remembers the dream and she begins to gasp. Sobs erupt from her throat as she clutches her chest and whispers over and over. "It wasn't real. It wasn't real."

Vincent leans over and pulls her out of the car, having already taken off her seat belt, "Come on, Catherine. I need you to walk into the warehouse. I can't pick you up. It'll just hurt you. Come on, it's okay. You don't have to tell me what happened until you're ready but I need to fix up your back."

Calming down, she walks into the warehouse and gingerly makes her way up the stairs. Moving towards Vincent's bed, she turns around to find him already behind her.

"Turn back around and take off your shirt."

Moving slowly, she tries to pull up her shirt only to cry out in pain. Vincent places his hands on her arms, pushing them back down slowly.

"If you can't lift your arms, I'm going to have to cut the shirt off of you. Is that ok?" Giving the affirmative, a pair of scissors slowly glide up through her shirt.

Sliding the shirt down her arms, he bundles it up and throws it in the trash before stepping back and looking at the blood soaked bandages wrapped around Catherine's torso.

"I'm going to grab the supplies I nee-"

"No morphine." Catherine blurts out, looking back at him over her shoulder. "I don't want to wake up to find you gone again." Tears left over from the nightmare still sliding silently down her face.

"Okay, that's fine. Try to unwrap the bandages while I'm grabbing the stuff. I'll come back over and help when I've got everything." He sighs before moving over to his medical cabinet and pulling out everything he'd need. Turning around he finds Catherine struggling with the bandages behind her back.

"I'll do the back if you do the front." His deep voice crawls into her ear and then shivers down her back.

Nodding her head, she hands him the piece of wrap she had been struggling to get undone from her back. He slowly glides it across her skin before passing it back to her. Back and forth they pass the bandage between them and the more they unwrap, the more the blood pours. Gauze pads soaked, he tells her to lay down on his bed. A little blood on his sheets is a small price to pay for being a monster. Grabbing his supplies, he drags a chair over to the side of the bed.

Turning her head to look at him, she sees him holding a syringe. "Anesthetic." He says, seeing her tense before guiding the needle under her skin. Wincing from the slight pinch, she gazes into his eyes only to remember the way they looked as the life drained out of them. The way he looked as blood dripped from his head to the ground below. So wrapped up in the memory of her dream, Cat doesn't notice the passage of time until finally the familiar tugging on her skin brings her back.

"You died in front of me." Tears dripping from her eyes again

.  
"What?" Shocked because she had been so quiet before then and confused by her sudden declaration, Vincent pauses in placing his 68th stitch. Leaning over he finds her crying softly again. Wanting to comfort her but knowing he had to finish causes him to lean back over her and place the next stitch.

"In my dream. You were back at that warehouse turning yourself in and just like today, I was rushing to stop you. Only JT wasn't with me and I didn't arrive in time. It was pitch black when I got out of the car all except for the circle of light you were kneeling in. Your hands were cuffed behind your back with a gun pressed against your temple." Openly sobbing, she feels Vincent tape a new gauze pad to her back before pulling her up against him.

"I-I t-t-tried to get to you but... It was like there was this invisible barrier and all I could do was pound on it and scream your name." Her hand fisted in his shirt. " And then as soon as you looked up at me, the trigger was pulled and the barrier gone. I started running again but just as I reached you, your body disappeared and I was left in the dark with the cold rain and bloody rocks." Anger surges through her body and she pulls away from him to stand up.

"How could you just turn yourself in like that? What if we had been too late? You could have been killed! And it would have been all my fault. After everything that has happened, everything they've done you thought they would what? Help you? Or did you know they would probably kill you?" Seeing the guilt in his eyes confirmed her suspicion.

"WHY? Why would you do that?"

"BECAUSE I'M A MONSTER!" He roared before getting up and turning away from her.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT! IF ANYTHING I'M THE MONSTER. I CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN. ME! NOT YOU! YOU WARNED ME AND I DIDN'T LISTEN. I WAS SELFISH AND I DIDN'T LISTEN. SO THIS IS MY FAULT! AND IF YOU HAD DIED, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY FAULT TOO! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT WOULD DO TO ME?"

"WHAT? WHAT WOULD IT HAVE DONE? WHY DO YOU CARE? WHY DON'T YOU HATE ME FOR WHAT I'VE CAUSED?" He turns back to look at her.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! THAT'S WHY!" Breathing in deep, she takes a step closer to him. "It would have killed me if something happened to you. And I told you before that this wasn't your fault. It was mine. I couldn't stay away. At first it was it was about my mother and the cases at work but then one day I realized that I had been using those as excuses just to spend time with you. You're not a monster, Vincent. Maybe you were in the beginning when you had no control but not anymore. If you were, you would have killed me 10 years ago. But instead, you looked right at me and then turned and ran. Yes, you've killed but most of those times were to save me. You forget I've seen you when you change. And instead of attacking me, you let me calm you down. You let me touch you. I'll never run. And besides if killing someone makes you a monster, then I'm one too." She covers his mouth with her hand when he tries to speak.

"No. Don't push me away. Please, I need you." Pulling her hand away, she hears him sigh.

"I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted." He says, pulling her against him and sighing again. "I love you too."

Leaning down he kisses the lips of an angel. His angel. His savior.

Leaning up she kisses the lips of a beast. Her beast. Her savior.

They saved each other.


	8. AN

**So, I am thinking of writing a sequel. Not sure what about yet. Been waiting for inspiration to strike. Keep a look out for it and I'll also post a notice on here when I start. Don't expect it for another couple weeks though. **


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